Safe-lock



(No Model.) 2-Sheets-Sheet 1. H. F. NEWBURY.

` SAFE LOCK.

Patented Jan.16,1883.

l T l (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

' H. F. NEWBURY.

SAFE LUCK.

No. 270,830. Y Patented Jam, 1883.

7455265566; l l IJivn/r mi2/wm MM UNITED STATES PATENT Frio.,

HENRY F. NEWBURY, OF BROOKLYN, NET YORK.

SAFE-LOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming-part of Letters Patent No. 270,830, dated January 16, 1883. Application filed September 4, 1889.. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that l, HENRY F. NEWBURY, of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in the Mode of Mounting Locks; and I do hereby declare that the following is a clear and exact description of my invention. The usual mode of securing locks, whether chronometric or combination, upon the inner face of the door or wall of the safe, vault, or other structure which they are used to guard has been to bolt themdirectly thereto. I have discovered that when locks are thus mounted they can be unseated by a burglar without resort to force to break or penetrate the walls of the safe or vault. This can readily be effected bythe use of a small charge of dynamite, nitroglycerinc"7 or other quick explosive exploded against the outside of that portion of the door or wall to which the lock is attached. The momentum which can be communicated to a lock through the walls ot' a safe by reason of the suddenness with which the so-calied quick explosives act is such as to tear the look away from its fnstenings if secured in the manner above indicated. When the fastening-bolts are thus broken the lock will be thrown oft' the door orwill fall out ot position, and thus its operative connection with the bolts of the sate or vault door will be destroyed, leaving the door in condition to be at once opened upon the retraction of the door-bolts by means ot' the ordinary door-spindle.

The present invention provides a remedy for this danger connected with the use of locks as ordinarily mounted; and it consists inproviding a supplemental support so constructed andarranged relatively to the lock that if the ordinary lock-fastenin gs are destroyed the supplemental support will sustain the lock in substantially its normal position7 and thus preserve its operative connection vwith the doorbolts ot' the safe.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure lis an elevation of the door and part ot' the jambs of an ordinary safe provided with an inner door, a portion of the outer door being broken away so as to show in full lines a portion ofthe lock, which is attached to the inner face of such door, as well as a portion ot' the supplemental lock. B is the outer door, and C the innerV door, ot' the safe. D is the lock-bolt,'which works between thevstud E and the angle-lever f orjaw F, which in turn is connected with the carrying or tiebar H, which is bolted to the door-bolts G G, working in the bolt-bars I I. Then the end 'of the bolt D is interposed between the abutment E and the head of the angle-lever F, the door-bolts are locked. When the lock-bolt is retracted, the door-bolts can he thrown'back and the door opened. .As here shown, the lock is bolted rigidly to the door by short screw-bolts J J passing through the back ot' the lock-case in the ordinary manner. 1f, when the lock is thus securedto the door, a properly-regulated charge of dynamite or similar material be exploded against the exterior ot' the door at a point opposite the lock, the momentum transmitted to the lock through the door will. break these fasteniug-bolts, and thus unseat the lock. To prevent the lock from being thrown od' the door or falling out of position when its fasteningholts are thus destroyed, and thereby releasingthe bolt-work, the present invention, as above indicated, provides supplemental supports so arranged that, although all of the ordinary fastening-bolts of the lock be broken, the lock itself will still be heldin working position by such supplemental supports.

One form of such supplemental support is shown in Figs. l and 2. In these figures, M is a shelf bolted to the inner door of the safe at a height a tride lower than the bottom of the lock, and extending forward under the lock 9 when the outer door is closed. N N are two end abutments to prevent lateral movement of the lock, and O is an upper abutment, designed to prevent the lock from being lifted upward. P I? are stid springs arranged to epress against the face of the lock and crowd it against the door in opposition to its tendmi y 270,830

ency `to be thrown inward away from the door by the force which breaks the fastening-bolts. These springs would be unnecessary if the space between the two doors were but a trifle in excess of the thickness of the lock. The special function of the rear lateral abutment, N, and of the top abutment, O, is to prevent the lock from being forced out of place by pressure brought against it from the outside through the medium of the spindle Q after its fastening-bolts may have been destroyed. A lock constructed like the Ilolmeslock (shown in Fig. 1) would require both of these abutments; but in usinglocks in which a backward pressure on the carrying-bar would not tend to lift the lock, as in the case of the Yale or Sargent time-lock, the top abutment would not ordinarily be necessary. 0n small safes, however, the top abutment, as well as the two lateral ones, should be used, as it would prevent the lock from being` displaced by the overturning of the safe.

Another form of supplemental support equally applicable to time-locks, but illustrated in the drawings in connection with an ordinary combination-lock, is shown in Figs. 3 and 4, Fig. 8 being au elevation of the inside of a safe-door and the surrounding jambs, and Fig. 4 being a horizontal section ofthe same on the line z z. 1n this case the sliding lock-bolt D is shown as working between thel two angleleverjaws F, which are connected with the carrying-bar H by links in the well-known way. The lock itself, asin the case ofthe lock shown in Figs. 1 and 2, is secured to the door primarily by the use of short screw-bolts JJ, which confine it rigidly to the door. In addition to this, however, other bolts, S S, are provided, which pass through ears on the lock-case and are seated in the safe-door. These bolts are of much greater length than the others, and carry spiral springs in the manner shown. lt' the main bolts should be broken by the force of a shock, these supplemental bolts,with their springs, could be relied upon to sustain the lock and keep it from being thrown out ofv operative connection with the bolt-work ofthe door, the springs being useful also to graduate the shock so as to relieve theboltsfrom thedangerof being broken. It will be seen that the operation is substantially the same as in Figs. 1 and 2; but in one respect the latter construction is superior. When the supplemental support is attached to the inner door, it is far less likely to be affected by an explosion or other heavy shock directed against the door which carries the lock.

Both of the above forms of supplemental support, but particularly the rst one, (shown in Figs. l and 2,) will be foundadvantageous when the interior space immediately adjacent to the door is too limited to permit much play to the lock. Where a wider space is available the lock may be mounted on flexible supports, so as to have a capacity of movement back,-

ward and forward relatively to the door. Such mode of mounting, however, forms no part of the present invention, having already been patented by me in its application to time-locks in Letters Patent Nos. 262,097 and 262,100, both dated August 1, 1882, and in its special application to combination and other permutation locks being the subject of apending application heretofore filed by me, and designated as Gase Q.7

When time-locks are provided with supple mental supports in addition to the ordinary fastening device, as above described, it will, it is believed, be found necessary to modify the construction ot the lock so as to prevent the premature retraction of the lock-bolt as a consequence of the breaking of the more delicate parts of the lock if subjected to a sudden and heavy shock, such as would be sufficient to breakthefastening-boltsofthelock; butsuch modified construction of atime-lock in connection with supplemental supports does not constitute the subject of the present application, being already the subject of Letters Patent No. 262,101, dated August 1, 1882.

When, again, combination or other spindle locks are provided with supplemental supports in connection with the ordinary fasten` ing-bolts, itis desirable that some provision should be made for a longitudinal movement of the spindle relatively either to the lock mechanism or the door ofthe safe or vault, and a construction designed to effect this result is shown in Fig. 4, where the inner end of the'spindle is shown as made square so as, it` necessary, to

have a to-and-fro movement in a hole of cor` responding shape in the hub of the drivingcam T. This special construction of combination and kindred locks forms the subject of the pending application above referred to as Case Q.7 The object of it as used in that applicatiou is not to preserve the operative relation of the combination-lock to the door-bolts of the sate in case the fastenings of the lock are broken, but to preserve the operative connection between the lock and the operatingspindle, which passes through to the exterior of the safe. For the purpose of preserving the operative relation of the lock to the doorbolts when the primary fastenings are broken, it is not absolutely essential that there be this capacity for longitudinal movement of the spindle. 1f it did not exist, the inner end of IOO the spindle might be broken off by the same shock that a burglar would use to shatter the fastening-bolts of the lock; but iu such case, if supplemental supports are provided, the lock would still be held in position and be effective to guard the safe. 1n such case, however, it would be necessary to cut the safe open in order to have access to its contents. This cutting open of the safe under the circumstances supposed may, it is believed, be obviated by the use of the movable spindle in connection with supplemental supports.l

It will be manifest, also, to a person skilled in the art that supplemental supports are applicable to that class ot locking devices which donoternbodyanyclock mechanism,andwhich, also, have no spindles connecting them with the exterior of the safe or vault. An instance ot' such a locking device is the spring-box as sometimes used in connection with what is known as automatic bolt-work.77 Another form of such' locking device is seen in the supof the lock are destroyed.

2. In combination with supplemental supports for preserving the operative connection Vbetween a lock and the door-bolts of a safe or vault in which it is used, springs arranged to operate substantially as above set forth.

3. lln combination with a spindle-lock mounted on the door or wallof asafe or similar structure, supplemental supports for preserving the operative connection between such lock and the door-bolts in case the primary fastenings are broken, and means for permitting a longi- 3o tudinal movement of the lock-spindle, substantiall y as and for the purpose described.

HENRY F. NEWBURY.

Witnesses:

R. F. GAYLORD, SAML. A. DUNcN. 

